Dr. Mark Blades

Department of Psychology, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TP, UK.
Tel: +44 114 222 6549
Fax: +44 114 276 6515
Email: M.Blades@sheffield.ac.uk
Web: www.shef.ac.uk/psychology/staff/academic/mark-blades.html

Interests

Dr. Mark Blades' research interests include: Children's environmental cognition, in particular young children's understanding of maps, aerial photographs, and models as representations of places in the real world. We have also investigated how children learn and remember routes through new environments. Children with disabilities including children with visual impairments and children with Williams syndrome. These are children who have difficulties learning new places and we have investigated ways to help such children gain a little more mobility and independence. Children's eyewitness testimony, Repeated questionning and Children's understanding of advertisements.

Publications

Blades, M., Lippa, Y., Golledge, R., Jacobson, R. D. & Kitchin, R. (2002) Wayfinding by people with visual impairments: the effect of spatial tasks on the ability to learn a novel route. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 96, 407-419.

Jacobson, D., Lippa, Y., Golledge, R. G., Kitchin, R. & Blades, M. (2001) Rapid development of cognitive maps in people with visual impairments when exploring novel geographic spaces. Bulletin of People-Environment Studies, 18, 3-6.

Blades, M., Ungar, S. & Spencer, C. P. (2000) Map using by adults with visual impairments. Professional Geographer, 51(4), 539-553.

Ungar, S., Blades, M. & Spencer, C. P. (2000) Can a tactile map facilitate learning of related information by blind and visually impaired people? A test of the conjoint retention hypothesis. In: Anderson, M., Meyer, B. & Oliver, P. eds. Diagrammatic representation and reasoning. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Press.

Edwards, R., Ungar, S. & Blades, M. (1998) Route descriptions by visually impaired and sighted children from memory and from maps. Journal Of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 92(7), 512-521.

Ungar, S., Blades, M. & Spencer, C. (1998) Effects of orientation on Braille reading by people who are visually impaired: the role of context. Journal Of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 92(7), 454-463.

Ungar, S., Blades, M. & Spencer, C. (1997) The ability of visually impaired children to locate themselves on a tactile map. Journal Of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 90(6), 526-535.